objective case
Quick Summary
Case grammar is a linguistic theory that analyzes sentence structure based on the relationship between a verb and a set of semantic cases. These cases represent the roles that different parts of a sentence play in relation to the verb, such as agent, patient, or instrument.1
In English grammar, pronouns change form depending on their function in a sentence. The accusative case, for example, is used for pronouns that are the object of a verb or preposition, such as "me" in "He saw me" or "us" in "with us". This is often confused in compound phrases, where people might incorrectly use the nominative case (like "I") instead of the accusative (like "me") after a preposition or when the pronoun is part of a compound object. For instance, the correct phrasing is "He gave it to Janey and me," not "He gave it to Janey and I".23
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.